UCF Seeks Online, In-Person Feedback for Presidential Search

The president of the firm hired to assist with UCF’s presidential search said Monday that UCF’s momentum and constant pursuit of big projects will be an advantage in recruiting candidates.

Strong candidates “want to be part of an institution with forward trajectory,” Laurie C. Wilder of Parker Executive Search told the search committee that will be charged with recommending finalists to the Board of Trustees. “That to me is an opportunity.”

Wilder and the committee discussed the process and timeline for the presidential search during the committee’s second meeting.

Search Committee Chairman David Walsh said that the search firm “has a national reputation for conducting successful and inclusive searches.”

UCF will host four opportunities for the campus and Central Florida communities to provide input at public forums. The university has also launched an online survey, available at www.ucf.edu/leadership/presidential-search[1].

While survey submissions are anonymous, all comments will be open to the public for review.

The first public forum, at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the Fairwinds Alumni Center, will double as the next meeting of the search committee charged with recommending finalists to the Board of Trustees.

The other three forums with members of the search committee will be at:

Conversations at the forums will be guided be three questions: What are the challenges facing UCF in the next several years, what kind of leader can meet those challenges and why should someone want to be president of UCF?